he's an expert on the middle east and an entrepreneur who started his own company, caspian energy consulting with works with business interests in the middle east and the former soviet union. he's made enough money to pay for his own campaign as an independent campaign for the senate in maryland. he said his opponents are trying to elbow him out of the race. >> what our candidacy is offering, and i say our, because this is not just my campaign, this is our campaign, is concrete ideas with concrete solutions. >> the recent gonzalez poll shows cardin with 50% of the vote. the poll has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5%. i asked the republican candidate if he's trying to exclude sobahni from the debates. >> these debates are complicated. they're not as easy as declaring you on a debate. you need forums, there are scheduling differences. >> reporter: ben cardin of maryland was not available today. his campaign issued this statement to news4. it says, if there is a public interest in including all third-party and unaffiliated candidates in debates or candidate forums, senator cardin would co